UNREPENTANT
Bill Cosby breaks silence and says ‘I never changed my story’ after he arrives home following shock prison release
BILL Cosby broke his silence moments after returning home following his shock prison release as he said "I never changed my stance nor my story".
Cosby served more than two years of a three-to-10-year sentence at a state prison near before his sexual assault conviction was overturned on a technicality by Pennsylvania's Supreme Court in a stunning ruling on Wednesday.
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He had vowed to serve all 10 years rather than acknowledge any remorse over the 2004 encounter with accuser Andrea Constand - who he allegedly drugged and molested.
The disgraced comedian was released from the State Correctional Institution before 3pm ET, just two hours after the decision was made.
Learning of the news on Wednesday afternoon, Cosby reportedly said "wow" and ";unbelievable," his attorney told the outlet.
Returning to his home in Elkins Park, Pa., a grinning Cosby flashed a peace sign and dodged questions from reporters.
Cosby was the first celebrity tried and convicted in the #MeToo era, so the reversal could make prosecutors wary of calling other accusers in similar cases.
As Cosby was released from prison, it emerged:
- An alleged victim will when she was 15
- Accusers have slammed the release of Cosby with saying "my stomach is lurching"
- Former Cosby Show co-star Phylicia Rashard celebrated his release, saying
The defiant comic later tweeted a message of thanks to his fans alongside a photo of himself with a raised fist, reading: "I have never changed my stance nor my story. I have always maintained my innocence.
"Thank you to all my fans, supporters and friends who stood by me through this ordeal. Special thanks to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for upholding the rule of law."
The 83-year-old, who was once beloved as "America’s Dad," was convicted of drugging and molesting the Temple University employee at his suburban estate.
has followed his conviction as he walked free on a legal technicality, and which has been described as a slap in the face of his alleged victims after dozens of women came forward.
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Judges said there had been a "process violation" by the prosecution as they overturned the conviction - after a previous agreement which lawyers described as "unusual".
Cosby's legal team had made an agreement with previous state district attorney Bruce Castor that he would not be prosecuted in exchange for deposition in 2005 lawsuit brought against him by Constand.
During the deposition he made a series of incriminating statements as he described his sex life and predatory behaviour towards young women.
He described using his fame to push women into sex acts - such as seducing a teenage model who sent him a poem - along with a pattern of drug taking and claiming he was good at picking up nonverbal cues signalling consent.
Castor had thought there would not be enough forensic evidence without Cosby's testimony - and the civil suit was settled for $3million in 2006.
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Joel A. Ready, an attorney with Cornerstone Law Firm in Blandon, told : "The agreement itself is unusual. Basically, I'm not going to prosecute you in exchange for you testifying in a civil deposition."
And then ten years later, these documents were unsealed and prosecutors used them in the case against him just days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired in 2015.
However, the supreme court found that district attorney Kevin Steele, who made the decision to arrest Cosby, should have stood by his predecessor's agreement over the civil case.
The court called Cosby’s subsequent arrest “an affront to fundamental fairness, particularly when it results in a criminal prosecution that was forgone for more than a decade.”
It said justice and “fair play and decency” require that the district attorney’s office stand by the decision of the previous DA.
Castor acknowledged the only place the agreement was put in writing was a 2005 press release announcing his decision not to prosecute.
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The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that Cosby's previous testimony tainted the trial, even though a lower appeals court had found it appropriate to show a signature pattern of drugging and molesting women.
The law on prior bad act testimony varies by state, though, and the ruling only holds sway in Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors did not immediately say if they would appeal or seek to try Cosby for a third time.
The justices voiced concern not just about sex assault cases, but what they saw as the judiciary’s increasing tendency to allow testimony that crosses the line into character attacks.
The law allows the testimony only in limited cases, including to show a crime pattern so specific it serves to identify the perpetrator.
In New York, the judge presiding over last year’s trial of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, whose case had sparked the explosion of the #MeToo movement in 2017, let four other accusers testify.
Weinstein was convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison. He is now facing separate charges in California.
In Cosby’s case, one of his appellate lawyers said prosecutors put on vague evidence about the uncharged conduct, including Cosby’s own recollections in his deposition about giving women alcohol or quaaludes before sexual encounters.
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“The presumption of innocence just didn’t exist for him,” Jennifer Bonjean, the lawyer, argued to the court in December.
In May, Cosby was denied paroled after refusing to participate in sex offender programs during his nearly three years in state prison.
He has long said he would resist the treatment programs and refuse to acknowledge wrongdoing even if it means serving the full 10-year sentence.
This is the first year he was eligible for parole under the three- to 10-year sentence handed down after his 2018 conviction.
During the conviction, the court deemed the elderly inmate a "sexually violent predator" for posing an "imminent safety risk to women."
Cosby spokesperson Andrew Wyatt called the parole board decision “appalling.”
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Prosecutors said Cosby repeatedly used his fame and “family man” persona to manipulate young women, holding himself out as a mentor before betraying them.
Cosby, a groundbreaking black actor who grew up in public housing in Philadelphia, made a fortune estimated at $400million during his 50 years in the entertainment industry.
His trademark clean comedy and homespun wisdom fueled popular TV shows, books and standup acts.
He fell from favor in his later years as he lectured the black community about family values, but was attempting a comeback when he was arrested.
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“There was a built-in level of trust because of his status in the entertainment industry and because he held himself out as a public moralist,” Assistant District Attorney Adrienne Jappe, of suburban Montgomery County, argued to the justices.
Cosby had invited Constand to an estate he owns in Pennsylvania the night she said he drugged and sexually assaulted her.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Constand, a former professional basketball player who worked at his alma mater, went to police a year later.
The other accusers knew Cosby through the entertainment industry and did not go to police.
Cosby rape accuser Victoria Valentino reacts to comedian's jail sentence
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